Yankees' Aaron Judge may be 'locked in' and out of slump

New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto seems to believe that team captain Aaron Judge is coming out of a slump that lasted through the start of May. 

"Judge has been locked in the last couple days," Soto said after his teammate hit a solo home run and a two-run double in Wednesday's 9-4 win over the Houston Astros, as shared by Greg Joyce of the New York Post. "Really excited for that. I can’t wait to see him going crazy like today. It’s going to be great." 

Per Max Goodman of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com and Erik Boland of Newsday, Judge's level of "locked in" became a topic of conversation amid his offensive woes that may or may not have been linked with the sore core that impacted him during spring training. Over his past 11 games, though, Judge batted .385 with four homers, 11 RBI and eight walks. 

While that's a small sample size, Soto sounded encouraged on Wednesday night by what he's recently seen from Judge. 

"It tells you how much he can do, how much damage he can do," Soto said about Judge not yet being "locked in" at the plate. "I mean, if he can keep that up the whole year, I’m not asking for more from him. If he keeps doing the same things that he’s been doing today, what else can we ask for? I think if he’s not locked in, it’s gonna be great."

Granted, history suggests Judge likely would be the first person to admit he's not close to where he wants to be as an offensive contributor. 

Heading into Thursday's MLB action, he was responsible for a .236 average with a .843 OPS, eight home runs and 24 RBI across 38 total games on the season. 

The 25-13 Yankees nevertheless began Thursday tied with the Baltimore Orioles atop the American League East standings. Following Wednesday's victory, Soto offered somewhat of a warning regarding what the Bronx Bombers will be once Judge is fully "locked in" and in a groove. 

"We all know how capable we are," Soto added during his comments. "I know it’s not gonna be easy to do that every night, but we’re definitely really capable to do that and more." 

The Yankees finish their home series against the 12-24 Astros on Thursday evening.